patti ann: "happening now", sandy's aftermath. the destruction from the superstorm expected to leave more than 16 million cubic yards of debris in landfills that is enough to fill the empire state building some 16 times over but a lot of it could be reused. rick leventhal is live from the rock awas in queens, new york. hey, rick. >> reporter: we're at one of two temporary dump sites still salvaging storm debris three months after sandy hit this area. they're running here 24 hours a day, seven days a week. we've seen a parade of sanitation trucks bringing in debris from breezy point, rockaways and brooklyn. you see the large excavator on top of the pile. it is putting debris in another truck to bring to a landfill. this is monumental job with no end in sight. three months after hurricane sandy swamped much of new york and new jersey's coast the massive pile of debris is finally string shrinking. this is aggressive effort to recycle. >> refrigerators, water heaters, things not biodegradable in the future that could cause environment